Diede de Groot has won it all in wheelchair tennis.
Three consecutive calendar Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open) from 2021 to 2023; the most wheelchair women’s singles titles in history (23); the Golden Slam three years ago — the four Grand Slam titles, plus gold at the pandemic-delayed Paralympics in Tokyo, where she defeated Japan’s Yui Kamiji 6-3 7-6(1).
Advertisem*nt
The Dutch world No 1 is widely regarded as the greatest wheelchair tennis player of all time.
Heading into Paris 2024 though, De Groot was in an unfamiliar position: she had never defended a Paralympic title. They are special, given they come around once every four years.
Having not dropped a set on the way to Saturday’s final, the 27-year-old again faced Kamiji who, along with her doubles partner Manami Tanaka, upset De Groot and Aniek van Koot in the women’s doubles final 24 hours beforehand. It was the first time the Netherlands had not won women’s doubles gold since 1992, and Kamiji set out to end the same streak in the women’s singles.
“This (doubles gold) is the best moment of my career, but that might change,” said Kamiji. “I still have one more match to go.”
Getting to the top is one thing. Staying there is, according to De Groot, “more difficult”.
The Dutch player has been training with male Paralympian compatriots Maikel Scheffers and Ruben Spaargaren, which has helped her move faster around the court and hit the ball harder. The trickiest part for De Groot, however, has been psychological: the demanding expectations and “dealing with not losing”.
Kamiji beat her in early July at the British Open but before that De Groot had won their previous 29 meetings. Going into the Paralympics, she knew she was the one to beat. “I feel the pressure, all eyes are on me,” De Groot said after her opening victory. “I’m used to it but there are 200 times as many eyes.”
On Friday, a bustling crowd filled Roland Garros’ Court Philippe-Chatrier, the main arena at the complex, with the traditional shouts of “Ba, ba, babababa…ole!” echoing round.
To stay focussed, De Groot usually concentrates on what she wants to do technically or tactically in the match — registering a high percentage of returns, or hitting down the line. “Take it away from winning or losing, and hopefully that will get me through this week,” she said earlier in the competition.
Advertisem*nt
De Groot, who has an aggressive game style, likes to take the ball early and prevent opponents from constructing points. She showed her nerves in the opening set and Kamiji scented blood, taking a 4-1 lead. De Groot clawed it back, winning the set 6-4.
“Diede, Diede, Diede!” chanted spectators, among them clusters of the orange Dutch army.
But in the second set, De Groot made 19 unforced errors and her serve collapsed. After Thursday’s doubles defeat, she said that trouble with her timing had knocked her serving confidence during that match.
De Groot has, in her words, a “complete” game. No standout shots, but a consistency across the court that manacles opponents. If there was one thing she’d improve on, however, it would be her serve. “As a wheelchair tennis player, you’re very vulnerable when serving, because you’re still. Whereas for able-bodied tennis, because you’re so high up, you can hit the aces and be at an advantage straight away.”
In today’s final, she served 17 double faults and allowed Kamiji back in. The Tokyo silver medallist, a good reader of the game and more of a defensive player, according to De Groot, scrapped, got balls back in court and waited for her opponent to make a mistake.
Kamiji roared back into the match by taking the second set (Elsa/Getty Images)
“Even when I got the chance to take the ball in one bounce and hit it on the other side, she was still there,” she said. Kamiji took the second set, 6-3.
At one set apiece, De Groot came flying out of the blocks, hitting three consecutive topspin backhand return winners down the line in the first three points. But Kamiji resisted, and held her serve from three break points down.
Leading 5-4 with De Groot serving, Kamiji hit a brilliant return to bring up three match points. The umpire had to silence the crowd. “Ssshhhh!” fans whispered.
You could hear a pin drop.
It summed up De Groot’s day that she double-faulted to hand Kamiji the gold medal.
Advertisem*nt
The Japanese athlete put her head in her hands and sobbed tears of joy. De Groot raced around the net to the other end of the court and hugged her.
“It was tough to recognise at that moment what I had done,” Kamiji said. “I just couldn’t believe it.
“I just can’t describe how big this is. I want to thank my team, family and friends, but also Diede — for fighting for me, for showing people how good wheelchair tennis is.”
Away from the court, De Groot has become more involved in the organisation of wheelchair tennis tournaments, trying to push the sport to the next level. She embraced her parents after the match and, as Kamiji had done, cried.
“They were just really proud of me,” she said, tearfully. “They said to me that I always wanted wheelchair tennis to grow, for there to be more competition … You’re just going to have to fight for it over and over again.”
De Groot had to settle for silver (Elsa/Getty Images)
Asked whether this will fuel her for years to come, De Groot nodded — but “not yet,” she said, wearily. She needs time to process, go on holiday with her family and reset.
As for Kamiji, smiling through her own tears, she said: “Yesterday, I said it was the best moment of my career, but I also said that might change. It (her singles gold) is the best moment of my career — although that might change in the future.”
(Top photo: De Groot in Saturday’s final at Roland Garros. Elsa/Getty Images)
Charlotte Harpur is a football writer, specialising in women's football for The Athletic UK. She has been nominated for women's sport journalist of the year and previously worked on the news desk. Prior to joining, Charlotte was a teacher. Follow Charlotte on Twitter @charlotteharpur
